[vbox-dev] [EXPERIMENTAL] VBox-Unattended Release 0.7.1 - Automated guest OS install

Fri Oct 18 21:33:08 GMT 2013

On Fri, Oct 18, 2013 at 9:18 PM, Alexey Eromenko <al4321 at gmail.com> wrote:

> 1. I have called it VirtualBox_unattended-OSE. So yes, maybe I should
> avoid changing numbers. Just last number, if uneven, indicates an
> unstable build. Oracle publishes only even-ended releases. x.y.0,
> x.y.2, etc..
> So this is beneficial to have numbers also...
>
>

How aobut VirtualBox Unattended 4.1.28.1, 4.1.28.2, etc?

> 2. You missed the elephant in da room: I use "mtools" as dependency.
> Windows host lacks ability to manipulate floppy images. Create new
> 1.44 MB floppy image, format it with FAT, loop mount it, copy files to
> it, etc... If someone writes an equivalent software for Windows, it
> should be good. (Hint: Qemu has it.)
>
>
No that's not a problem.

You can create a new floppy image using imdisk or filedisk:

http://www.ltr-data.se/opencode.html/#ImDisk

http://www.acc.umu.se/~bosse/

That's such a small part of what those utilities do that IMHO you should
take the code.

As for formatting with FAT, loop mounting, copy files, etc, VirtualBox
should already provide enough of an implementation for you. After all, you
can already mount floppy disks in VirtualBox, format the floppy and copy
files in there. Or am I missing something?

> 4. No source control. I believe that for one-man projects, I will just
> shoot in the foot if I add the overhead of a version control. IMO it
> should be used only for teams.
>
>
I'm afraid you are wrong.

Try git-svn to mirror the VBox svn repository and use a git branch to keep
your development synchronized with VBox. In fact, go to Assembla and create
your own free space, with tickets, a git repository, etc. You will never
look back.

http://offers.assembla.com/free-project-hosting/

http://offers.assembla.com/free-public-portfolios/

It is very hard to contribute to the development of VBox Unattended unless
there is a source repository where code is shared, pending tasks are
listed, assigned and progress is shown, etc

> On Fri, Oct 18, 2013 at 3:10 PM, Pau Garcia i Quiles
> <pgquiles at elpauer.org> wrote:
> > Alexey,
> >
> > This is great work indeed
> >
> > I do not work for Oracle but I'm sure they will agree with this:
> >
> > Please do not increment version numbers. What you call "4.1.29" should be
> > called "4.1.28+alexey" or "4.1.28+unattended", or something like that.
> > Otherwise, it creates confusion.
> >
> > Why would porting to Windows be difficult? I have skimmed over the code
> and
> > noticed nothing really difficult to port (or maybe I missed it)
> >
> > I noticed some wrong changes in the documentation (probably due to moving
> > your patch forward VBox versions without re-reading the whole patch,
> easy to
> > fix)
> >
> > Are you publishing your code in a git/svn repository somewhere? If you
> use
> > git to mirror the VirtualBox svn repository (use git-svn) and create a
> > branch for your work, then synchronizing and providing patches (and
> getting
> > more people to eventually help with VBox Unattended) would be much easier
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Oct 18, 2013 at 8:39 PM, Alexey Eromenko <al4321 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>
> >> I have good news and bad news:
> >>
> >> The Good news:
> >> 1. I have revived vboxunattended patch with 0.7.1 release
> >> 2. I have built a binary installer - VirtualBox_unattended-OSE-4.1.29
> >> for those who like to try it out
> >> The version is a patched 4.1.28, that I renamed as 4.1.29.
> >>
> >> The bad news:
> >> 1. Linux hosts only (porting to Windows will be difficult)
> >> 2. I'we tried & failed to port the patchset to the new VirtualBox
> >> 4.3.0 release -- because the code in this release is so complex, that
> >> I can't understand it.
> >>
> >> [specifically: I was unable to understand how parameters are passed
> >> between the classes in the New VM wizard, for example how the RAM
> >> parameter goes from the VirtualBox GUI into the COM server IMachine
> >> interface:
> >>
> >>
> UIWizardNewVMPageBasic2->UIWizardNewVMPage2->UINameAndSystemEditor->UIWizardNewVM->CMachine...
> >> ?]
> >>
> >> NOTE:
> >> vbox-unattended patchset is experimental.
> >>
> >> Supported guest OSes: (list not changed in few years)
> >> -openSUSE 11.4 32/64-bit
> >> -Debian 6.0 DVD 32/64-bit
> >> -Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 (32/64-bit)
> >> -Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 (32/64-bit)
> >> -Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (32/64-bit)
> >> -Windows XP (32-bit)
> >> -Windows Vista (32-bit)
> >> (other OSes might or might not work)
> >>
> >> Install instructions: (Debian Linux)
> >> 1. New Dependencies:
> >> # apt-get install p7zip-full mtools genisoimage
> >> 2. Download & install patched VirtualBox-unattended-OSE for Linux:
> >> (4.1.29)
> >>
> >>
> http://www.qumble.org/Downloads/VirtualBox-4.1.29_unattended-OSE-r89849.run
> >> 2.a. [OPTIONAL] MD5SUM:
> >> 2e22e1568a49c0585ab7d4dee6eec50e
> >> /home/alexey/1/VirtualBox-4.1.29_unattended-OSE-r89849.run
> >> 3. Make sure you use Oracle's guest additions:
> >> Download
> >>
> http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/4.1.28/VBoxGuestAdditions_4.1.28.iso
> >> cp [path]/VBoxGuestAdditions_4.1.28.iso
> >> /opt/VirtualBox/additions/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso
> >>
> >> Source code:
> >>
> https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=46798&p=211187#p211187
> >> --
> >> -Alexey Eromenko "Technologov"
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> vbox-dev mailing list
> >> vbox-dev at virtualbox.org
> >> https://www.virtualbox.org/mailman/listinfo/vbox-dev
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Pau Garcia i Quiles
> > http://www.elpauer.org
> > (Due to my workload, I may need 10 days to answer)
>
>
>
> --
> -Alexey Eromenko "Technologov"
>

-- 
Pau Garcia i Quiles
http://www.elpauer.org
(Due to my workload, I may need 10 days to answer)
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